Carl David Anderson: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|American | {{Short description|American experimental physicist (1905–1991)}} | ||
{{Other people|Carl Anderson}} | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} | {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} | ||
{{Infobox scientist | {{Infobox scientist | ||
| name = Carl | | name = Carl Anderson | ||
| image = Carl David Anderson.jpg | | image = Carl David Anderson.jpg | ||
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|09|03}} | | birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|09|03}} | ||
| birth_place = [[New York City]], | | birth_place = [[New York City]], US | ||
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|01|11|1905|09|03}} | | death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|01|11|1905|09|03}} | ||
| death_place = [[San Marino, California]], | | death_place = [[San Marino, California]], US | ||
| alma_mater = [[California Institute of Technology]] ([[ | | resting_place = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]], [[Hollywood Hills]] | ||
| known_for = {{ | | alma_mater = [[California Institute of Technology]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[PhD]]) | ||
* | | known_for = {{Indented plainlist| | ||
* | * Discovery of the [[positron]] | ||
* Discovery of the [[muon]] | |||
}} | }} | ||
| spouse = {{Marriage|Lorraine Bergman|1946}} | | spouse = {{Marriage|Lorraine Bergman|1946}} | ||
| children = 2 | | children = 2 | ||
| awards = {{ | | awards = {{Indented plainlist| | ||
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1936) | * [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1936) | ||
* [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1937) | * [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1937)}} | ||
}} | |||
| fields = [[Particle physics]] | | fields = [[Particle physics]] | ||
| work_institutions = California Institute of Technology | | work_institutions = California Institute of Technology (1930–1976) | ||
| thesis_title = Space-Distribution of X-ray Photoelectrons Ejected from the K and L Atomic Energy-Levels | | thesis_title = Space-Distribution of X-ray Photoelectrons Ejected from the K and L Atomic Energy-Levels <br/> | ||
| thesis_url = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/4075/ | | thesis_url = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/4075/ | ||
| thesis_year = 1930 | | thesis_year = 1930 | ||
| doctoral_advisor = [[Robert | | doctoral_advisor = [[Robert Millikan]] | ||
| doctoral_students = {{Indented plainlist| | |||
| doctoral_students = {{ | |||
* [[Seth Neddermeyer]] (1935) | * [[Seth Neddermeyer]] (1935) | ||
< | * [[Leon Katz (physicist)|Leon Katz]] (1943)<ref name=PhysicsTree>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson - Physics Tree|url=https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=71977|website=academictree.org|access-date=2025-08-01}}</ref> | ||
* [[James C. Fletcher]] (1948) | * [[James C. Fletcher]] (1948)<ref name=PhysicsTree/> | ||
* [[Donald | * [[Donald Glaser]] (1950)<ref name=PhysicsTree/> | ||
* [[George Trilling]] (1955)<ref name=PhysicsTree/> | |||
* [[Carl A. Rouse]] (1956)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>}} | |||
* [[ | |||
* [[ | |||
}} | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Carl David Anderson''' (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American [[ | '''Carl David Anderson''' (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American [[experimental physicist]] who shared the 1936 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Victor Hess]] for his discovery of the [[positron]],<ref name=Nobel1936>{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1936/summary/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916084743/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1936/index.html|archive-date=2008-09-16|access-date=2008-10-09}}</ref> which confirmed the existence of [[antimatter]]. | ||
== Biography == | |||
Carl David Anderson was born on September 3, 1905, in [[New York City]], to Swedish immigrants, Carl David Anderson Sr. and Emma Adolfina Ajaxson.<ref name=NobelBio>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson – Biographical|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1936/anderson/biographical/|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref> | |||
Anderson studied physics and engineering at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech), receiving his [[B.S.]] in 1927 and his [[Ph.D.]] in 1930.<ref name=NobelBio/> | |||
Anderson spent the entirety of his career at Caltech; he was Research Fellow (1930–1933) and Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics (1933–1939), before finally becoming Professor of Physics in 1939—a position he held until his retirement in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson|url=https://history.aip.org/phn/11409007.html|url-status=live|publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214090103/https://history.aip.org/phn/11409007.html | |||
|archive-date=2025-02-14|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref> | |||
In 1946, Anderson married Lorraine Bergman, with whom he had two sons.<ref name=NobelBio/> | |||
Anderson died on January 11, 1991, in [[San Marino, California]], at the age of 85. His remains were interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]. He was a Christian.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Carl David |last2=Anderson |first2=David A.K. |title=The Discovery of Anti‑Matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the Second Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize |publisher=World Scientific Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=9789810236809}}</ref> | |||
== Research == | |||
=== Discovery of the positron === | |||
[[File:PositronDiscovery.jpg|thumb|Photo by Anderson of the first positron ever observed, 15 March 1933]] | |||
Under the supervision of [[Robert Millikan]], Anderson began investigations into [[cosmic ray]]s during the course of which he encountered unexpected particle tracks in his (modern versions now commonly referred to as an Anderson) [[cloud chamber]] photographs that he correctly interpreted as having been created by a particle with the same mass as the [[electron]], but with opposite [[electric charge]]. | |||
This discovery, announced in 1932 and later confirmed by others, validated [[Paul Dirac]]'s theoretical prediction of the existence of the [[positron]]. Anderson first detected the particles in cosmic rays. He then produced more conclusive proof by shooting [[gamma ray]]s produced by the natural radioactive nuclide ThC<nowiki>''</nowiki> ([[Thallium-208|<sup>208</sup>Tl]])<ref>ThC" is a historical designation of <sup>208</sup>Tl, see [[Decay chains]]</ref> into other materials, resulting in the creation of positron-electron pairs. | |||
For this work, Anderson shared the 1936 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Victor Hess]].<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1936/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936]. nobelprize.org</ref> Fifty years later, Anderson acknowledged that his discovery was inspired by the work of his Caltech classmate, [[Chung-Yao Chao]], whose research formed the foundation from which much of Anderson's work developed but was not credited at the time.<ref name="Chinese">{{Cite journal|last=Cao|first=Cong|date=2004|title=Chinese Science and the 'Nobel Prize Complex'|url=http://china-us.uoregon.edu/pdf/Minerva-2004.pdf|journal=Minerva|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|page=154|doi=10.1023/b:mine.0000030020.28625.7e|s2cid=144522961|issn=0026-4695}}</ref> | |||
=== Discovery of the muon === | |||
In 1936, Anderson and his first graduate student, [[Seth Neddermeyer]], discovered the [[muon]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neddermeyer |first=Seth H. |last2=Anderson |first2=Carl D. |date=1937-05-15 |title=Note on the Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRev.51.884 |journal=Physical Review |language=en |volume=51 |issue=10 |pages=884–886 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.51.884 |issn=0031-899X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> (or 'mu-meson', as it was known for many years), a [[subatomic particle]] 207 times more massive than the electron, but with the same negative electric charge and spin 1/2 as the electron, again in cosmic rays. | |||
Anderson and Neddermeyer at first believed that they had seen a [[pion]], a particle which [[Hideki Yukawa]] had postulated in his theory of the [[strong interaction]]. When it became clear that what Anderson had seen was ''not'' the pion, the physicist [[I. I. Rabi]], puzzled as to how the unexpected discovery could fit into any logical scheme of [[particle physics]], quizzically asked "Who ordered ''that''?" (sometimes the story goes that he was dining with colleagues at a Chinese restaurant at the time). | |||
The muon was the first of a long list of [[subatomic particles]] whose discovery initially baffled theoreticians who could not make the confusing "zoo" fit into some tidy conceptual scheme. [[Willis Lamb]], in his 1955 Nobel Prize Lecture, joked that he had heard it said that "the finder of a new elementary particle used to be rewarded by a Nobel Prize, but such a discovery now ought to be punished by a 10,000 dollar fine."<ref>Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (December 12, 1955) [https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/lamb-lecture.pdf Fine structure of the hydrogen atom]. ''Nobel Lecture''</ref> | |||
== Recognition == | |||
=== Awards === | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
! Country | |||
! Year | |||
! Institute | |||
! Award | |||
! Citation | |||
! {{Reference column heading}} | |||
|- | |||
| {{Flag|Sweden}} | |||
| 1936 | |||
| [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] | |||
| [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] | |||
| "For his discovery of the positron" | |||
| <ref name=Nobel1936/> | |||
|- | |||
| {{Flag|United States|1912}} | |||
| 1937 | |||
| [[Franklin Institute]] | |||
| [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] | |||
| "For the discovery of the positron" | |||
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Carl David Anderson|url=https://fi.edu/en/awards/laureates/carl-david-anderson|url-status=live|publisher=[[Franklin Institute]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250411120533/https://fi.edu/en/awards/laureates/carl-david-anderson|archive-date=2025-04-11|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref> | |||
|} | |||
=== Memberships === | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
! Country | |||
! Year | |||
! Institute | |||
! Type | |||
! Section | |||
! {{Reference column heading}} | |||
|- | |||
| {{Flag|United States|1912}} | |||
| 1938 | |||
| [[American Philosophical Society]] | |||
| Member | |||
| Mathematical and Physical Sciences | |||
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Carl+David+Anderson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live|publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518170444/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Carl+David+Anderson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|archive-date=2023-05-18|access-date=2023-05-18}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| {{Flag|United States|1912}} | |||
| 1938 | |||
| [[National Academy of Sciences]] | |||
| Emeritus | |||
| Physics | |||
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Cral D. Anderson|url=https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/carl-d-anderson-qydvwd/|url-status=live|publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720095241/https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/carl-d-anderson-qydvwd/|archive-date=2025-07-20|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| {{Flag|United States|1912}} | |||
| 1950 | |||
| [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] | |||
| Member | |||
| Mathematical and Physical Sciences | |||
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Carl David Anderson|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/carl-david-anderson|publisher=[[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref> | |||
|} | |||
==Select publications== | == Select publications == | ||
* {{cite journal | * {{cite journal | ||
|last=Anderson |first=C. D. | |last=Anderson |first=C. D. | ||
| Line 72: | Line 143: | ||
* {{Cite AV media |people=Anderson, C. D. (technical advisor) |year=1957 |title=The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays |series=[[The Bell Laboratory Science Series]]}} | * {{Cite AV media |people=Anderson, C. D. (technical advisor) |year=1957 |title=The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays |series=[[The Bell Laboratory Science Series]]}} | ||
==References== | == References == | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
==Further reading== | == Further reading == | ||
* {{cite book | last=Weiss | first=Richard J. | title=The Discovery of Anti-matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the (Second) Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize | publisher=World Scientific | publication-place=Singapore | date=1999 | isbn=978-981-02-3680-9}} | * {{cite book | last=Weiss | first=Richard J. | title=The Discovery of Anti-matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the (Second) Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize | publisher=World Scientific | publication-place=Singapore | date=1999 | isbn=978-981-02-3680-9}} | ||
==External links== | == External links == | ||
* [http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/carl-d-andersons-interview 1983 Audio Interview with Carl Anderson by Martin Sherwin] Voices of the Manhattan Project | * [http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/carl-d-andersons-interview 1983 Audio Interview with Carl Anderson by Martin Sherwin] Voices of the Manhattan Project | ||
{{Portal|Biography}} | {{Portal|Biography}} | ||
Latest revision as of 19:20, 29 November 2025
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Carl David Anderson (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American experimental physicist who shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics with Victor Hess for his discovery of the positron,[1] which confirmed the existence of antimatter.
Biography
Carl David Anderson was born on September 3, 1905, in New York City, to Swedish immigrants, Carl David Anderson Sr. and Emma Adolfina Ajaxson.[2]
Anderson studied physics and engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), receiving his B.S. in 1927 and his Ph.D. in 1930.[2]
Anderson spent the entirety of his career at Caltech; he was Research Fellow (1930–1933) and Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics (1933–1939), before finally becoming Professor of Physics in 1939—a position he held until his retirement in 1976.[3]
In 1946, Anderson married Lorraine Bergman, with whom he had two sons.[2]
Anderson died on January 11, 1991, in San Marino, California, at the age of 85. His remains were interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. He was a Christian.[4]
Research
Discovery of the positron
Under the supervision of Robert Millikan, Anderson began investigations into cosmic rays during the course of which he encountered unexpected particle tracks in his (modern versions now commonly referred to as an Anderson) cloud chamber photographs that he correctly interpreted as having been created by a particle with the same mass as the electron, but with opposite electric charge.
This discovery, announced in 1932 and later confirmed by others, validated Paul Dirac's theoretical prediction of the existence of the positron. Anderson first detected the particles in cosmic rays. He then produced more conclusive proof by shooting gamma rays produced by the natural radioactive nuclide ThC'' (208Tl)[5] into other materials, resulting in the creation of positron-electron pairs.
For this work, Anderson shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics with Victor Hess.[6] Fifty years later, Anderson acknowledged that his discovery was inspired by the work of his Caltech classmate, Chung-Yao Chao, whose research formed the foundation from which much of Anderson's work developed but was not credited at the time.[7]
Discovery of the muon
In 1936, Anderson and his first graduate student, Seth Neddermeyer, discovered the muon[8] (or 'mu-meson', as it was known for many years), a subatomic particle 207 times more massive than the electron, but with the same negative electric charge and spin 1/2 as the electron, again in cosmic rays.
Anderson and Neddermeyer at first believed that they had seen a pion, a particle which Hideki Yukawa had postulated in his theory of the strong interaction. When it became clear that what Anderson had seen was not the pion, the physicist I. I. Rabi, puzzled as to how the unexpected discovery could fit into any logical scheme of particle physics, quizzically asked "Who ordered that?" (sometimes the story goes that he was dining with colleagues at a Chinese restaurant at the time).
The muon was the first of a long list of subatomic particles whose discovery initially baffled theoreticians who could not make the confusing "zoo" fit into some tidy conceptual scheme. Willis Lamb, in his 1955 Nobel Prize Lecture, joked that he had heard it said that "the finder of a new elementary particle used to be rewarded by a Nobel Prize, but such a discovery now ought to be punished by a 10,000 dollar fine."[9]
Recognition
Awards
| Country | Year | Institute | Award | Citation | Template:Reference column heading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden | 1936 | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences | Nobel Prize in Physics | "For his discovery of the positron" | [1] |
| File:Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg United States | 1937 | Franklin Institute | Elliott Cresson Medal | "For the discovery of the positron" | [10] |
Memberships
| Country | Year | Institute | Type | Section | Template:Reference column heading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg United States | 1938 | American Philosophical Society | Member | Mathematical and Physical Sciences | [11] |
| File:Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg United States | 1938 | National Academy of Sciences | Emeritus | Physics | [12] |
| File:Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg United States | 1950 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | Member | Mathematical and Physical Sciences | [13] |
Select publications
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References
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- ↑ ThC" is a historical designation of 208Tl, see Decay chains
- ↑ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936. nobelprize.org
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- ↑ Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (December 12, 1955) Fine structure of the hydrogen atom. Nobel Lecture
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Further reading
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External links
- 1983 Audio Interview with Carl Anderson by Martin Sherwin Voices of the Manhattan Project
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- American National Biography, vol. 1, pp. 445–446.
- Annotated bibliography for Carl David Anderson from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Carl Anderson and the Discovery of the Positron
- Template:Nobelprize
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
- Oral History interview transcript with Carl D. Anderson on 30 June 1966, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
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- 1905 births
- 1991 deaths
- 20th-century American physicists
- American Nobel laureates
- American people of Swedish descent
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
- California Institute of Technology alumni
- California Institute of Technology faculty
- American experimental physicists
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Fellows of the American Physical Society
- John H. Francis Polytechnic High School alumni
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- American particle physicists
- Scientists from California
- Scientists from New York City
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Members of the American Philosophical Society